Noticeboard

CHANGES TO DISPENSARY OPENING HOURS

Please be aware that in order to work safely and continue to provide a service, the Dispensary will only be open from 10.00am - 1pm and 3pm - 5pm Monday-Friday. Our staff are working as hard as they can to maintain the service and we would be very grateful for you cooperation during this time. Please allow at least 5 working days for your request to be processed. We are currently dispensing medication ordered on 24 March and would ask that you only come to collect medication if you have received a text message advising that it is ready. If you are vulnerable and can ask someone else to collect medication for you, we would strongly encourage you to do so.

Following the Prime Ministers announcement this evening we would urge our patients to stay at home wherever possible. We are doing our utmost to dispense your medication and will text you once it’s ready. Please do not turn up on the off chance that it is ready and if you are trying to collect for someone else please check first. We cannot stress how important it is to heed the advice being given. Please stay at home and stay safe.

Online appointment bookings have been ceased

Please be aware that we are no longer accepting online bookings. All bookings must be made through Reception staff who will arrange for you to be telephoned in the first instance by a GP. They can then assess whether it is appropriate for you to visit the Surgery.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDNG CORONAVIRUS

If you have symptoms associated with coronavirus including a new continuous cough and a high temperature, you are advised to stay at home for 7 days. Do not book a GP appointment or attend your GP Practice. If your symptoms are serious, or get worse, NHS111 has an online coronavirus service that can tell you if you need further medical help and advise you what to do. Only call 111 direct if you cannot go online, or are advised to do so by the online service. For the latest Covid-19 advice please visit www.nhs.uk/coronavirus

Changes to the Practice

Following yesterday’s announcement from the Prime Minister and in line with recommendations from NHS.uk the Practice will be making some changes to how we continue to operate over the coming weeks. We will be keeping patients informed via our website and facebook page, and of course our Reception team will be available to speak to. Our Receptionists will be asking all patients questions regarding symptoms prior to booking any appointments.

Please bear with us as we are extremely busy at this time and calls will take longer than usual.

Many thanks from the team for your cooperation in what are difficult times for everyone.

GP Partner Announcement- It was with sadness that we said farewell to our Practice Manager, Alison Lowerson who left us on Friday 28 February. Our Deputy Practice Manager, Karen Turner will be taking over in her absence until we have recruited a new Manager.

Dispensary - The Dispensary will be closed every Wednesday between 1.00pm and 2.00pm.

PRESCRIPTION REQUESTS: We require at least 3 FULL WORKING DAYS to prepare your paper or electronic prescription as per NHS standard. This excludes procurement and dispensing time which is subject to separate clinical and safety standards. You may not request items which are not on your repeat list due to local health policy restrictions in that items which are used occasionally and are available at a pharmacy must be purchased at a pharmacy, whether you are exempt or not from prescription charges. We encourage patients to register for SystmOnline prescription ordering. Just ask a member of our reception team.

PRESCRIPTION CHARGES - If you pay for your prescriptions the NHS increased the Prescription Charge by 20 pence from £8.80 to £9.00 for each medicine or appliance dispensed from 1st April 2019. The cost of the prescription pre payment certificates (PPC) has been frozen for another year. For more information please clickHERE.

GDPR - On 25 May 2018 the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect. Here is a copy of our Privacy Notice which includes information on how we use and protect your personal information, and your rights relating to this.

CHECK-IN SCREEN - Our new patient self check-in screen is up and running. It takes just a few seconds to use and is an effective way to increase efficiency at the reception desk and improve the patient experience. The reception staff will be encouraging patients to use it when they arrive for their booked appointments.

SAVE TIME, DO IT ONLINE - Order your repeat prescriptions online, book and cancel your appointments online. Please ask a member of our Reception team for details about how to register for Online access.

ARE YOU A CARER? If you help a family member, friend or neighbour that has a disability, has a mental illness, has a chronic illness, is frail or has a substance misuse problem with alcohol or drugs, we would like to provide you with relevant information. Please complete one of our "AM I A CARER?" forms at the Reception desk click on the Carers link in our Further Information Index.

ARE YOU A MILITARY VETERAN? The Practice will be working to support and signpost military veterans to advice and support relating to their healthcare. In the meantime, for more about Veterans UK please click HERE

Clinics & Services

Nursing Services

They also offer disease management clinics for conditions such as Asthma/COPD, Diabetes, Heart Disease and Hypertension.

Child Health Clinics

You may bring your child for their 8 week check with a doctor followed by their first immunisations with the nurse. Appointments for these clinics are made via reception. If you have a child under the age of five who needs to be seen by a doctor please ask reception if there are any available appointments.

Counselling

If you have a problem which requires counselling, please see your doctor who can make the necessary arrangements through the Community Mental Health Team.

Maternity Services

Antenatal clinics are held at the Medical Centre on Tuesday mornings. The Midwives can be contacted on 01476 565232 ext. 4334.

Minor Operations

We are able to perform a range of minor surgical procedures. Appointments will only be made after seeing a doctor to discuss if the procedure is appropriate.

Physiotherapy

This may be arranged - please consult your GP.

Sexual Health Services

We offer a full range of emergency and continuous contraceptive services. It is fully confidential and advice is available through our normal routes; by phone, open surgery appointment, booked appointment or nurse appointment where appropriate. Emergency contraception is most effective the sooner it is accessed, please do not wait unnecessarily, contact us and discuss.

Sexual Health Services are also available at the Genito-Urinary Medicine Department at Grantham Hospital. For a GUM appointment, please ring the centralised booking number on 01522 539145. Alternatively, there are open access clinics. To find out when these are held please ring 01476 464 755.

Travel Advice & Immunisation

We hold dedicated travel clinics with our Practice Nurses. If you are travelling abroad please ask reception for a travel form or download one from the above “Travel Vaccinations” tab. One form per traveller should be completed together with an appropriate contact telephone number that you can be reached on at any time. Completed forms should be returned to the practice nurse as soon as possible.

The nurse will assess the form and work out an appropriate schedule based on the details given. You will be contacted with the information and any costs to be incurred. As some vaccinations need to be given over the course of a month, as well as a month before travel, it is essential that you complete your form, make any necessary payment and arrange your appointments as soon as possible.

Please be aware that all private vaccinations must be paid for before any vaccine can be ordered and appointments made. If you require vaccinations less than six weeks before you travel, please be aware that we will not be able to accommodate you at such short notice in which case you will be advised to attend an independent travel clinic.